rutlesrikifandomcom-20200215-history
For Four Guys
For Four Guys Was a film directed by Ron Nasty and written by Dirk McQuickly which was released in 1968 and was based on a stage play of the same name written by Orson Welles. The film follows a fictionalised story of the The Rutles formation and their height of fame during 1964 and 1965, it shows just how painful the groups fame were and how pressured they were to release hit singles and make them. The film is best known for a controversial scene where Ron meets up with Bob Dylan whom introduces him to tea substance and they both get high and have lunch in a zoo. Therefore the film was banned for four months until it was re released by Nasty Productions and distributed by Apple Corps, the soundtrack was then released a year later and written by Bob Dylan himself. Background In late 1967 when Tragical History Tour was released and panned by critics, the group were asked by their estate agent Mervin Banks to do a film about themselves in order to make a profit to release a charity album for The Scottish Rebellion event in London made up of angry Scottish rugby fans with Ron who stated The Rutles were "bigger than Scottish rugby players". In response to Mervin, Dirk came across a showing of a play called For Four Guys at the Hammersmith Odeon in London where he met Orson Welles. Impressed with the play, he wrote a film script and showed it to The Rutles. Ron Nasty liked it so much he suggested that the film script should be used for the film project, two weeks later Ron went up to Dirk to tell him he will be film director. Happy with the idea, Dirk and Ron agreed to make the film in Scotland and France because Ron has Scottish and French family members he wants to desperately see. Production The film was shot from February 16th to February 31st 1968 in two halves, one halve of the film was shot in Paris, France where the duo met up with Ron's French uncle and French cousins. His uncle and cousins ended up starring in the film as supporting characters, the second half of the film was shot in Edinburgh, Scotland where they met Ron's Scottish great-grandfather and great-grandmother who ran a famous bank over there. The bank was featured in the film after a vial argument with Dirk about not featuring Ron's great-grandparents in the film, so this decision was made instead. The budget of the film overall ended up being $400,000 and they couldn't afford it unless someone paid for it which ended up being their financer John Winter, a former news reporter from New York. The film's production was held up by fights between Ron and Dirk because they both didn't want ideas from each other about location change since it was cold in Scotland and too sunny in France. Dirk got food poising from a cold turkey in Paris at a restaurant with one of Ron's cousins who chose cold turkey for him on purpose. So then Dirk was replaced by a stand in double for certain scenes in Paris, Ron's cousin was hired as the stand in after all. Reception and legacy When the film was released, it was praised by critics for its accurate depiction of the band's early years and the fact it was an emotional story fuelled by the influence of tea substance, still popular during then. Critics likened the film to their earlier film A Hard Day's Rut which was released in 1964 and was also praised by critics. The critics tried to make a link between both films calling it "Two films under the same story and influence". The film followed on a legacy where many filmmakers of the 1970s and 1980s including Steven Speilberg, Ron Howard, and Francis Ford Coppolla who claimed For Four Guys was a major influence on most of their work. Also many fashion designers and stylists were influenced by Ron and Dirk's trousers and therefore trousers became a decade defining moment of the 1970s in London and New York. Stylists also were influenced by their terrible haircut which was incorporated into many different styler boutiques. Orson Welles reacted positively to the film who said it was "a film that he would of made instantly". It received a 100% from Rutted Bananas, a film review website made by Rutle Corps who were going through a tough period of time after the film was just released. Dirk McQuickly impersonator Long John Silver claimed Dirk's portrayal in the film helped him to be popular in night time clubs impersonating scenes from the film as his longtime running act. Soundtrack The film's soundtrack by Bob Dylan wasn't released until a year later for confusing reasons in 1969, the soundtrack was well received by music critics for sounding a lot like The Rutles. He did his own interpretations of Rutles songs from the previous years which was disliked by Rutles fans and Bob Dylan fans. The soundtrack reached number one in so many coutries, Bob had to tour in many countries which proved to be a bad idea. Track listing- All songs written by Nasty-McQuickly Side one- 1.Number One 3:12 2. Hold My Hand 4:00 3. Now She's Left You 3:18 4. She Ruts You 2:10 5. Lonely-Phobia 2:08 6. Rut My Car 4:26 7. Between Us 3:03 Side two- 1.Baby Let Me Be 4:15 2. I Must Be In Love 4:38 3. Ouch! 5:32 4. I Love You 5:18 5. Unfinished Words 5:00 6. With A Girl Like You 2:18 7. I'm Just Happy To Rut With You 2:06 8. I Shouldn't Know Better 2:00